Summer Game Challenge 2013 - Begin when ready!

[alienjesus]

1. Blaster Master - Wii VC (NES)
2. Cybernator - SNES
3. Super Aleste - SNES
4. Diddy Kong Racing - N64
5. Metroid Prime 3 - Wii
6. Loco Roco - PSP
7. Final Fantasy VII - PS1
8. Metal Gear Solid - PS1
9. Tomb Raider - PS1
10. Pulseman - Wii VC (MD)
11. Bubble Bobble - SMS

Spent a few hours with Diddy Kong Racing again tonight and finished it off. I had a lot of fun with the game, although I think anyone who thinks it's better than Mario Kart 64 is mad. Don't get me wrong, DKR is a solid game, but it has a lot of moments of pure frustration, particularly on certain bosses and on the trophy tournaments later in the game. The enemies often seem to go faster than you possibly can, and it takes a lot of attempts, some very efficient use of items and a lot of luck to see yourself through. It's also not as nicely polished, and on several occassions I found my vehicle getting stuck on some edge of scenery, causing me to lose 10 seconds or so getting free and basically costing me the race for sure.

That said, the adventure mode is at least something different, and the game certainly offers up more content than Mario Kart 64's paultry 4 grand prixs and 4 battle arenas. The bosses can be fun, despite being very challenging, and I personally like the way the cars control (although the planes and hovercrafts aren't quite as nice). The courses are fairly memorable, although pretty short, and the music is pretty catchy (the christmas-y music from Frosty Village and the spooky music from Haunted Village are my favourites).

There's still plenty to do in game, as beating it unlocked a harder version of the game with mirrored tracks and tougher opponents, but I won't be rushing to do that too soon, I'm definitely Diddy Kong'd out. It's a good solid game, especially at the price it tends to go for now, and I'd definitely recommend it for anyones N64 collection.

[CFFJR]

Have you played FF12? (a lot of people tend to not count the newer installments when they talk about the series, that's why I'm asking). if not, give that a try.

Why not try FF8? It's a shame for it to be the only one in the series you haven't beaten.

Otherwise I think Final Fantasy 9 is a very good option. Even if you have played the game in the past, it just has so many beautiful memorable moments, that you'll just be looking forward to what happens next.

Also don't forget that soundtrack which is probably Uematso's best work after FF6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai4mbIP4vbM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Pi7MC_6bE

I've only played minutes of FF12, nowhere near enough to judge it. So that's a good suggestion!

As for FF8, maybe. It strikes me as a game that would irritate me (just from discussion I've heard or read about it). I probably will play it one day, but its not a priority really.

You're right about FF9 though. I have a very strong desire to revisit it right now, for the exact reason you described. There were so many amazing events and places in that game.

I don't think you can go wrong between FF9 and Chrono Cross. They're my favorite Square RPGs on the console, but I'd probably give the nod to Chrono Cross considering the differences in time investment, and I generally like it a smidgen better.

I do hope you'll put Chrono Trigger out of mind if you pick up Chrono Cross, as the latter is far and away the better, more daring, of the two.

Is Chrono Cross a lot shorter? I've seen figures anywhere from 30 to 60 hours, which really isn't very informative at all.

As for Chrono Trigger, I won't be comparing them, and I was mostly having a bit of fun with that comment earlier. I have looked into the story and such of Cross, and while I obviously haven't played it, I kind of think that the games are separate entities even though they elements in common. "Another time, another place", you know?

[pierrot]

It's been a little while since I last played Chrono Cross, but you could probably get through everything in it within 45-50 hours time. Probably 35-40 hours if you rush through it. I know that from start to Ozma took me about 85 hours in FFIX.

I agree that Chrono Cross shouldn't be thought of as a literal sequel to Chrono Trigger. Although there are some moments in Chrono Cross where they threw in some links to Trigger--probably to appease fans. (That didn't work out so well.) Stylistically, ideologically, Cross is quite a departure from Trigger. In all honesty, I think Cross strays just enough from the formula set down in Trigger to be alienating for a lot of its fans. Trigger's legacy aside, I think Chrono Cross stands incredibly well on its own. I think the battle mechanics in Cross are pretty brilliant if one is willing to invest in something different, and the art direction/story telling in Cross are just excellent. I think it definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the best RPGs on the original Playstation. That, said, FFIX is still a great choice, too.

[alienjesus]

I know that from start to Ozma took me about 85 hours in FFIX.

For what it's worth, I did basically everything in the game EXCEPT Ozma (chocographs, other secret bosses and all) in about 45-50 hours. If you skip the bigger sidequests you'd be looking at about 40 for FFIX.

[noiseredux]

5 hrs into FF now. Really glad I chose to revisit this. I'm now officially at the part where I've normally quit in the past - The Volcano.

Also something I've noticed about myself and RPG's. I'm so thrifty. I hate spending in-game currency. I tend to use items/weapons I find in dungeons or from battles and mostly only use currency to buy spells or things I can't (hopefully) find otherwise. But I have tons of $ stock-piled, which makes me think I'm probably making the game harder on myself than need be.

But that said, I don't know how the difficulty is in the PSP port compared to others, but leveling feels really natural here. Again, I'm 5 hrs in and all my characters are level 19 or 20. It doesn't feel like unnecessary grinding ever. I'm just exploring and battling as I have to and leveling up quite comfortably.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Huh. I usually go all out with my spending, since RPGs usually give you more money than you'll ever need. I think they do it so you can explore all the game mechanics without needing to grind. With more challenging RPGs, you might limp out of a dungeon with one party member alive, but only because you didn't sell your old weapons to buy resurrection items. I do wish you had more limited resources in some games.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I am heading out of town on Wednesday; so, I started up Wario Land 3 (GBC) yesterday. I am enjoying it so far, but Wario seems a bit "underpowered" at the start of the game. In Wario Land II - which I just completed a few days ago - Wario starts the game with all of his abilities (i.e., breaking blocks with his head, stomping through blocks, etc.). In Wario Land 3, however, you have to earn them. Accordingly, the game has given me that feeling you get when you start a new Metroid game. ("You mean I have to find all of those abilities again? I had the ice beam at the end of the last game...Where did you lose it Samus?!") I am already hooked on it, however, and I am confident that I will see it through to the end fairly quickly.

[pierrot]

Also something I've noticed about myself and RPG's. I'm so thrifty. I hate spending in-game currency. I tend to use items/weapons I find in dungeons or from battles and mostly only use currency to buy spells or things I can't (hopefully) find otherwise. But I have tons of $ stock-piled, which makes me think I'm probably making the game harder on myself than need be.

I shouldn't laugh, though. I usually hoard items like crazy in RPGs, and never really have enough money to stockpile healing items. I get extra stingy with using items though, so I generally end up dying after refusing to use an x-potion (insert appropriate equivalent) or ether of any kind because, "I might really need it later." (I never do.) I also always use magic to heal, and leave healing items until I'm drained of MP, because I hate having to buy more healing items. Just talking about it is stressing me out. Why do I like RPGs again?

[CFFJR]

I decided I'm gonna go ahead and tackle Chrono Cross. So here's the list.

1. Demon's Crest - SNES
2. Sonic Pocket Adventure - NGPC
3. Harvest Moon GBC - GBC
4. Panzer Dragoon - Saturn
5. Shadowrun - Genesis
6. Chrono Cross - PS1
7. Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys - Genesis
8. Deus Ex - PC
9. Metal Slug 2 - PSN
10.Golden Axe 3 - Genesis

I started playing Ys 3 tonight. Its quite fun.

The beginning was a bit slow, as I would die if an enemy so much as gave me a funny look, but some patience got me through that and I'm making progress. I killed a couple of bosses in the first area (Duran and some winged demon looking thing) and I'm currently in the Alcaino Ruins at level 6.

Also, I love the music.

[ZeroAX]

I agree that Chrono Cross shouldn't be thought of as a literal sequel to Chrono Trigger. Although there are some moments in Chrono Cross where they threw in some links to Trigger--probably to appease fans. (That didn't work out so well.) Stylistically, ideologically, Cross is quite a departure from Trigger. In all honesty, I think Cross strays just enough from the formula set down in Trigger to be alienating for a lot of its fans. Trigger's legacy aside, I think Chrono Cross stands incredibly well on its own. I think the battle mechanics in Cross are pretty brilliant if one is willing to invest in something different, and the art direction/story telling in Cross are just excellent. I think it definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the best RPGs on the original Playstation. That, said, FFIX is still a great choice, too.

That's weird. Aren't FF games exactly like that when it comes to their sequels? New experiences, new characters, new worlds, new gameplay style? So why is that a plus for the series and a negative (for fans, as you say) for CC?